A bomb has been left outside a county councillor’s home, sparking a major security alert.

Friends of Donegal councillor John O’Donnell said they were baffled as to why the newly-elected independent councillor had been targeted.

The 33-year-old was forced to leave his home in Downings, Donegal, after the device was left under a car.

Gardai informed the businessman on Thursday evening that they had received information to say a device had been left at his residence.

It is understood the anonymous phone call was made to the Samaritans in Ferry who contacted the PSNI who informed gardai.

The army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team were informed of the incident but did not arrive in Donegal until Friday morning.

A spokesman for the Army Press office confirmed the device was live.

He said: “The Defence Forces deployed the Army Bomb Disposal Team in response to a request from An Garda Siochana after they were alerted to a suspect device in Carrigart, near Milford, Donegal.

“A cordon and road closures were put in place for public safety and a number of nearby houses were evacuated. The team arrived on scene at 8.45am.

“The device was made safe at the scene, without the need for a controlled explosion and was taken away to a safe military location for further testing where it was later confirmed as a viable Improvised Explosive Device (IED).

“All component parts and items of an evidential nature will be handed over to the Gardai to assist them with their investigation into the incident. The scene was declared safe at 10.40 am.”

A friend of Councillor O'Donnell said he is in shock.

He added: “John is a fairly relaxed guy and is trying to cope as best he can.

“But the reality is that it is the summer months and Downings is a very busy area.

“There are a lot of children in the area and God knows what could have happened if this device was live and it had have went off.

“This is an attack on democracy and whoever put this here obviously doesn’t care.”

Meanwhile, an elderly woman caused a major security alert when she handed a bomb she found in her garage into a Garda station.

The woman had been cleaning out her garage when she discovered a 100-year-old artillery shell in her home in Trim, Co Meath.

It’s believed she was aware she had the live round but had forgotten about it until discovering it in the clear-out.

Army experts removed the device for examination and expected it to be destroyed this afternoon.